The Oblivious Earthbender
by Nightmares-Of-Quirk
Summary: A lengthy two-shot in which our favorite Earthbender accidently and unknowingly confesses her feelings for our favorite Water Tribe warrior... And runs into a little bit of trouble in the process.
1. Chapter 1

Though Toph was hardly a sentimental girl, the one thing she was most thankful for was her friendship with the members of Team Avatar. For the greater part of her life, she had been doted on, sheltered, and shadowed by caretakers hired by her parents because of the simple fact that she could not see. Before she ran away, she would constantly be "handled " by various au pairs, and rarely ever caught a break from someone breathing down her neck. She'd grown increasingly frustrated over the years, and though she loved her mom and dad dearly, she could no longer take it. She _had_ to get out of that house.

That was where the underground fighting had come in. There she was, a puny little blind girl amidst all those brutes in the underground arena. They'd scoffed at her. They'd asked her if she was lost and needed "someone to find her mommy". Well, after a few rounds in the tournament with her, _they_ were the ones who had been crying for their mommies. She was soon dubbed the "Blind Bandit", and rumors spread about her throughout the city.

That was all fine and good, but she wasn't truly satisfied with her life until Aang came along and she volunteered to be his Earthbending teacher. She'd made fast friends with the Avatar and his two Water Tribe companions, Katara and Sokka.

She was _especially_ fond of Sokka.

None of her new friends treated her like a handicap or a burden, least of all, the older boy. There were times when Katara could get really motherly and protective over her, like when she pulled a bunch of deceitful tricks on the locals in order to snag some quick cash. Every once in a while, even Aang would suggest that she hang back if they were going on a particularly dangerous mission.

Sokka had never done any of this, but rather stuck up for her and encouraged her to do her very best instead. For that, she couldn't help but develop a little bit of a crush on him. Although she could not see for herself, she had heard many girls in the various towns they'd passed through sigh about how handsome the "tall, exotic-looking one" was. She was about 99.9% sure they were talking about him, for she was able to sense basic levels of height of the objects and people around her through her feet. And, man, was Twinkle-Toes short!

Besides his height, Toph could also sense that he had a lean, muscular build... But incredibly poor posture. It seemed that whenever he was hungry (which was almost always), he would slouch over and drag his feet when he walked. She had to surpress her giggles whenever she noticed it on their visits to the marketplace. What could she say? She found it cute.

Now, Toph was anything but a girly girl, and if she had caught herself daydreaming about what it would be like to hold Sokka's hand while strolling through a warm, sunny meadow with birds chirping in the trees on any other day, she would have kicked her own butt. However, on this particular morning, she was in far too deep. She was so enraptured in her fantasy that she didn't even realize she was talking out loud.

"Oh, Sokka, you have no idea how long I've wanted to tell you that I like you. You're the only one who doesn't treat me like I'm blind, and you don't know how much that means to me..."

* * *

"Hey, do you guys hear something?" Aang looked up from where he was cleaning his glider and tilted his head, listening. For the past few minutes, a faint mumbling that sounded like a human voice had drifted into his ears but he couldn't make out what the voice was saying.

Katara paused her sewing and turned in the direction the noise was coming from. "It sounds like Toph," she said after a moment.

"Where is she, anyway?" Sokka was perched on Appa's back, eyeing his boomerang carefully as he sharpened its edges.

"I don't know," Katara replied as she set one of her brother's socks, which had a hole she was trying to fix, aside. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her since breakfast. She mysteriously disappeared afterwards."

"Maybe we should look for her," Aang suggested as he stood and scanned the green, rolling hills of the Earth Kingdom where they had been camping out the past few days. "I know she can find her way back and all, but still."

"You have a point, Aang," Katara agreed. "Who knows what could be roaming around out there. Let's go see if we can find her."

Sokka rolled his eyes. "She _can_ take care of herself, you know. She's going to be upset whenever the two of you show up all worried and gushy over her."

Katara narrowed her eyes at him and placed her hands on her hips as she stood up. "What do you mean, the two of us? You're coming too!"

"What? Why?"

"It won't take as long with all three of us," Aang supplied with his goofy, lopsided grin. "And we know Toph can look after herself. We just want to make _sure_ she's okay." A moment later, his smile turned into a worried frown. "Actually, if that voice does belong to her, who exactly is she talking to?"

Katara's brow furrowed. "I don't think anyone else has been living nearby. What if it's the Fire Nation? What if they caught up to us already?"

"Um, _hello_!" Her brother leaned down and wildly waved his hand in front of their faces. "I'm pretty sure that if Prince Ponytail was here, she'd be screaming bloody murder and flinging giant rock meteors at him, not having a polite conversation."

She let out an exasperated sigh and shook her head as she grabbed his arm and pulled him harshly to the ground. "Whatever. We're still going to look for her, and _you're_ still coming!"

* * *

The trio's search didn't take much longer than five minutes. They soon came up over the edge of a decent-sized hill, and there lay Toph on the grass. Her hands were clasped behind her head and a big, dreamy smile was plastered on her face. Her eyes were closed, and she seemed to be dreaming.

"Didn't she feel us coming?" Aang wondered aloud as he scratched the back of his head.

"Is she sleeping? You'd think she still would have woken up because of our vibrations."

"Alright, see? She's fine! Now can we go start dinner? I'm dying of starvation." Sokka glanced down at his rumbling stomach impatiently and groaned. They were just about to turn back, when...

"Sokka, you're so silly! _Of course_, I'll feed you grapes and fan you..."

There was a collective gasp from Katara and Aang as the older Water Tribe boy froze in his place.

At their feet, Toph emitted a a small, bubbly giggle that was _very_ unlike her. "Oh, you want to take me on a date to that fancy little tea house in Ba Sing Se? Why, I'd be delighted..."

Katara and Aang had to clasp their hands over their mouths to surpress the fits of laughter that were threatening to be released as their wide-eyed gazes flickered between Sokka and the oblivious Earthbender. All Sokka could do was blush and avert his eyes from all three of them as he tried to make sense out of what just happened.

Did Toph... Have a crush on him? The very idea puzzled him. She had never seemed like the type of girl who actually _liked_ boys. Though he was sort of ashamed and felt bad about admitting it, he sometimes found it hard to remember that she was even a _girl_.

"Sokka, is that... An engagement ring?! Oh, of course I'll marry you!"

And that was the third strike out for Aang and Katara. Neither could contain themselves any longer, and they both made the mistake of collapsing to the ground with howls of laughter. Toph sat up almost immediately and turned to where the sound was coming from. She could sense that the two rolling around on the ground were Aang and Katara, so that meant that the person standing was...

_Oh, Gods, no..._

She stumbled to her feet and backed away slowly, her cheeks growing warm from embarrassment.

"Toph, it's okay," Sokka started towards her with a sigh. "Don't pay attention to them, they're just being jerks."

But it was too late. Toph sped off down the other side of the hill, desperately trying to put as much distance between the object of her affections and herself. Gods, she was stupid! How could she not have sensed them coming? She was only _half_ asleep... Did she really have it that bad for Sokka? She couldn't even imagine what he was thinking right now. _'Oh, Toph has a crush on me? Ha, what a joke!'_

She wiped away the tears that were beginning to fall from her sea-foam eyes and let out a choked sob. What was she thinking? She had no chance with him! She was twelve years old and couldn't _see. _How was she supposed to continue traveling with them now? All of their interactions would be awkward, forced, uncomfortable... Toph slowed down to a walk and sighed. She'd been running for at least five minutes, and she could sense that she had now entered some sort of forest. She could feel the presence of the large, shady trees scattered about. She tiredly collapsed against one and began to pull blades of grass out of the ground absentmindedly.

She knew she was going to have to go back at some point, whether they came looking for her or she returned of her own accord. However, she was hoping to prolong that moment as best she could.

Suddenly, she noticed something odd about the ground beneath her feet. It almost seemed like there was some sort of cavern below... With numerous tunnels branching out to who knows where... She had been able to determine what creatures had created lots of underground networks in her short lifetime, but this was something entirely unrecognizable and new... She couldn't sense any type of movement from whatever could be down there, either... Was there an opening nearby?

Figuring that this was an open invitation to distract herself from the horrors of adolescence, she stood and set off once again.

* * *

"_WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU?!_" Sokka paced back and forth angrily in front of Aang and Katara, both of which had guilty, sullen looks on their faces. "Honestly, and I thought _I_ was insensitive!"

"I know, Sokka, and I feel horrible-" Katara started, but was cut off by her brother's continuing tirade.

"I'm not all that surprised at you, Aang, but _Katara_? _Really_?"

"I _know_, Sokka, I'm disappointed in me too-"

"I know that if the situation had been reversed and it had been one of you, I would have laughed too, but-"

"Sokka!" Aang held his hands out in a gesture meant to calm the fuming Water Tribe boy down. "We know. We're sorry. We shouldn't have laughed at her."

"Yeah," Katara chimed in as she laid a hand on her brother's shoulder. "It wasn't a very mature thing to do. I'm sure she's really upset. We're supposed to be her friends."

"Exactly, and _I'm_ not the one you should be apologizing to."

"You're right," Aang sighed as he shamefully bowed his head. "We should go find her and tell her we're sorry. Come on, Katara. Let's go."

"Uh, wait," Sokka paused, arms crossed and an unusually thoughtful expression on his face. "I think that maybe I should be the one to go talk to her. I mean, I know I'm probably the last person she _wants_ to see, but I also think I'm the first person she _needs_ to see. Metaphorically speaking, of course."

His sister gave him a small smile. "Well, if you're sure. Just don't take too long. Dinner will be ready in an hour."

Just as they were saying their goodbyes, a bloodcurdling scream interrupted in the distance. All three of them snapped their heads to the forest in alarm.

"Scratch that. Let's all go."


	2. Chapter 2

Clearly, this was just not Toph's day. First, she thoroughly embarrassed herself in front of her only friends because she had a stupid crush on one of them, and now she was dangling precariously from the edge of the opening to the underground cavern that she did, in fact, find.

_Well, I guess you can't have everything_, she thought ruefully.

Hopefully, her friends had heard her scream and were on their way to save her. She had tried to pull herself up, but instantly felt something in her wrist snap and a burning sensation had since taken over. A broken bone, just her luck!

She sighed. She hated depending on others to help her, no matter how infrequently a situation like that came along. She wanted to be independent. She wanted to _prove _herself. Hanging by a thread, merely a slip of a finger from possibly dropping to her death, was really no way to do that.

Really, what _was_ she thinking? She still didn't know what sort of creatures were down in the enormous hole, but she sure hoped that her screaming didn't wake them up so that they were coming to get her.

_On second thought_, she mused, _If I let go and collapse into a heap of pathetic loserness with no life left in me, I won't have to face Sokka and the others..._

Eh. She wasn't that desperate.

* * *

"Toph! Toph, where are you?" Sokka had been ambling through the forest for about twenty minutes and there was still no sign of the tiny Earthbender. He hoped that she hadn't somehow been able to turn herself into a tree or a rock with her bending, because then they'd never find her. He was supposed to meet Katara and Aang, who had both gone off in different directions for their search, back at the hill in an hour. If all three of them reported back with no Toph in tow... Well, he didn't know what they'd do.

He sighed a very tired and very sad sigh. He knew what it was like to be humiliated in front of someone he had a crush on. It had happened to him back at the south pole all the time. He'd see a pretty girl, make googley eyes at her, and fail miserably in his attempts to impress her. The guys would make fun of him for a week, but it would eventually blow over... Until he managed to embarrass himself again and the process repeated itself. But, he knew stuff like this was different for girls. He knew that, since they were all emotional and weird, Toph had probably cried her eyes out and put herself down for what she had unknowingly said. He felt really, really bad.

"Toph? Toph, where are you? Look, please don't be upset. I'm not here to make fun of you or anything. I'm just worried about you. Please, come back..."

* * *

_Goodbye, cruel world, take care of mom and dad... They'll be devastated by the news..._

"Toph? Toph, where are you? Look, please don't be upset. I'm not here to make fun of you or anything. I'm just worried about you. Please, come back."

She was just about to let go of the ledge and fall dramatically to her doom (her arm was beginning to hurt) when she heard him calling for her.

"Toph, I know that I am the last person you want to see- Erm, I mean _talk_ to, right now- but, I swear I'm not going to laugh at you or make fun of you. Aang and Katara are out looking for you too. We're all worried about you. Who knows what could be in this forest?"

She bowed her head. So, they'd come looking for her, after all. And of course, Sokka was the one to find her. Well, he'd be the one to find her if she let him know she was there, anyway... Which she almost contemplated not doing.

However, she began to feel her fingers slipping slowly and couldn't help but yell, "Sokka!"

She heard his footsteps pause before she could feel him running in her direction.

"Watch out, there's a huge hole! Don't fall in."

She heard him gasp, and the next thing she knew, he had a strong grip on her arm and was hauling her out and onto the ground.

"Geez, Toph, how did you even manage to get down there? Are your sensory glands or whatever not working right today?"

She rolled her eyes. "My 'sensory glands' are working just _fine_. I just wasn't paying attention, and tripped over a rock. I thought the opening would be some sort of cave, but I guess it wasn't."

Sokka sighed and shook his head. "And here I thought you had somehow turned yourself into a tree or something. Wait, the opening to what?"

She stared unseeingly in the direction his voice had come from with a "you've-got-to-be-kidding-me" expression. "Earthbenders can't actually turn themselves into the material they're bending, Sokka. And there's an underground cavern below our feet. It's pretty big, and has lots of tunnels branching off into different directions. I thought I'd go find out what was down there to distract myself from..." She wrapped her arms around her knees and looked away in embarrassment.

_Great, now _this_ has to come up..._

Sokka understood what she meant and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah, about that... Listen, Toph-"

He was cut off by a strange buzzing sound that was distant at first, but grew louder by the second. His brow furrowed as he tilted his head to the side. Toph sat up immediately, having heard the sound too.

"It's coming from the cavern," she mumbled. "They're traveling through the tunnels to the center. They're flying. I can't make out exactly what they are..."

He grabbed her arm and helped her up. "Maybe we should get out of here. I don't really want to find out what's coming... Or what it's coming for."

Toph nodded. "I'm not getting a very friendly vibe from whoever's home we invaded."

As Sokka grabbed her injured hand and began to lead her away, she cried out.

"What's wrong? Did you break it?"

"I think so. I had the wrong grip on the ledge, and when I tried to pull myself up, something in my wrist snapped."

He scowled and looked down at her arm. "We'll have Katara check it out when we get back. She's better at all that medical mumbo-jumbo than I am."

They walked in an uncomfortable silence for a few minutes, neither of them knowing what to say. Toph was quietly hoping and praying that she was still dreaming, and that she'd wake up any minute and be able to act like none of this had ever happened. Sokka was quietly hoping and praying that he'd be able to come up with something to say that wouldn't hurt her feelings. He liked her, he really did, but not in the way that she liked him. He had come to see her as another little sister that he would fight for and protect. She had become one of his closest friends, and he hoped he could let her down easily without ruining that.

"Uh, listen... I know this is probably really awkward for you, and believe me, I don't want to let this ruin our friendship-"

"Sokka, please. You don't have to say anything. You don't like me. That's okay." She offered him a small smile.

He looked down at her and shook his head. "No, Toph, I do like you-"

"Just not in the way that I like you. I know that. And I'm fine, Sokka-"

Their conversation was cut short as a huge eruption caused them to fall back on their behinds. Right in front of them sat a gaping hole, above which hovered a large, hideous creature with buzzing, beating wings. It had the thousand beady eyes and anntennae of a fly stuck on a striped tiger's head. Its stick legs had dark, sharp talons on the ends and its body belonged to an insect. Although Toph could not see, she could tell what it was just by hearing its bizarre, warped roar.

"A tigerfly," she gasped. She knew that this particular species was especially rare... And especially dangerous. If its long, pointed teeth merely scratched your arm and drew only a trickle of blood, you could still be paralyzed by the poison they were coated with. If they managed to dig deeper into your muscle, well, it was safe to say you were done for. She stumbled to her feet, grabbed Sokka's arm, and dragged him up so that he was standing as three more popped up out of the ground around them.

"I hope you brought your boomerang and your knives. It doesn't look like we're gonna get to run away this time."

"I'm way ahead of you," he replied as he whipped out said weapons from their sheath on his back. "Can you still bend without your one wrist?"

"I can try," she said as she flung her good arm into a sort of uppercut motion. A large mound of rock came flying up out of the ground and sent one of the airborne beasts hurtling into a tree, clearly dead. "These are just a few scouts that the rest of the colony sent to investigate what we were. We need to take them out fast and run like heck back to the camp. They shouldn't follow us out of the forest, since they prefer to be shaded, but still."

Sokka smiled. "Gotcha."

_I really don't understand why people try to baby her._

The Water Tribe boy and Earth Kingdom tween fought diligently alongside each other, as they had many times before. A few more tigerflies had appeared, probably as backup, but they defeated them with only a little bit of effort and strain.

"Okay, Toph, I don't know if you can sense any more coming through the tunnels, but there are none left above ground," said Sokka, who was bent over, his hands on his knees, panting. "I think now would be a good time to run."

"I agree. More are coming, but they seem hesitant... Uncertain. We better go before they build up a little more courage."

They ran for about twenty minutes, at full speed, before Sokka finally caught a glimpse of the end of the trees and Toph could sense the rolling hills that were just up ahead.

"We can probably walk now," she told him. "Even if they were chasing after us, they wouldn't be able to find us now."

"Thank the Gods," he replied as he wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead and let out a tiresome "phew".

Unfortunately, their monumental battle in the forest could not prevent the leftover awkwardness from settling back in between them, daunting them, with cruel chuckles and jeers like _'I'm still here.'_

Sokka, feeling that he should still say something, sighed. "Toph, I know you said you were fine, but I still want to apologize. You're like a little sister to me. I really would do anything for you, believe me, I'd be happy to. I hope that after all this, we can still be friends."

For a few moments, she didn't speak. She just walked alongside him with an unusually thoughtful expression on her face. Then, she turned her head so that she was facing him (or at least she thought she was) and said with a smile, "Don't worry about it, Snoozles. I was never even going to tell you. Besides," she grinned mischievously, "I'm sure you're not as good-looking as they say you are, anyway."

His eyes widened, brow furrowed, and mouth gaped comically, as he had obviously taken offense. However, he quickly recovered and replied teasingly, "Well, that wasn't very nice! And to think I was considering taking you on that date to that fancy little tea house in Ba Sing Se."

Despite her blush, she couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, no! I was so looking forward to it! However _will_ I survive without all of your attention?"

Sokka turned up his nose in an imitation of snooty aristocracy. "You'll just have to settle for someone who isn't as handsome, talented, muscular, tough, or hilarious as me, young lady."

They both laughed until their sides hurt as they continued on their way back to meet Katara and Aang.

"But seriously," he started as he composed himself once again. "Are you really okay?"

Toph held back the urge to roll her eyes and just smiled. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Although he had always known that Toph was tough and could get through anything life threw at her, whether it was heartbreak or injury, it wasn't until she playfully punched his arm and told him she'd race him back to camp before he actually believed that she would, in fact, be okay.

* * *

**A/N: **I hope you enjoyed this not-so-little two-shot that I randomly came up with! I know that some of you may have found this a little out of character, but I was trying to go for the side of Toph that everyone just kind of forgets about. I figure, since she's a 12-year-old girl, she's still going to have those girly, embarrassing moments in her life no matter how abrasive and sarcastic she presents herself to be. It's just a part of growing up. So, let me now if you liked it, and tell me what you think. Au revior! :)


End file.
